St. Landry democrat., 1887-06-11
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Ftom our Regular Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, D. {. May 30tL, 1887.

and interesting one III as,ilngtop.
The National Drill has been the great
event of course, and the programme
Was 80 arranged that each day Of the
week bad some important event OF its
own, 80 that there was variety and i'll
tercst all the time. To-day Oecnra-
ton Day. is legal holiday. The De
partmeuts are closed, aud tho Govern
,nent employees are free.
Unusually elaborate memorial sclvI-
ces have been arranged TO take place at
Arlington, Soldiers Home cemetery,
the Congressional cemetery and at
General Logan's tomb. The soldiers
who have participated in the Natir'nal
Drill will join the Grand Army of the
Republic and the Army Of tb :, potoms =.
in professions t" these places. nd
there will be music and oratory and
prayers and poetry and flowers.
lhe contestS of the Drill are over,
but the Enca' .npment does not break
up until tits evening. The military
conlpao' ,es which went through the OF
dcat OF the competitive drills, after
tU' IT duties were ended, give them
selves up to fun, sight seein and the
enjoyment OF camp life. Tue soldiers
from MaiDe and New Hamp shire think
it 10 pretty bot weather in Washington
aud Oh some of the parades Il few of
shem were overcome by the heat each
day. But the lads from Texas aud
Louisiana think it is very cold ion May,
and shiver and put on then overcoats.
Altogether the health OF the camp has
been good, considering the re are so
many soldiers here from various eli
mates who have been Subjected to
changes Of different kinds and to unlls-
al exertion and fatigua- Sill the hospi-
tai has proved an ndispensability of
the camp and there has been constant
demand for the service s Of the Red
Cross Society, which has charge of it.
When tho rain and ind amounting
almost to d cyclone STIR lck the city of
tents on three success sive afternoons,
making havoc with ca mp parapherna-
Tia of every kind no buffeting and
drenching the soldier the latter felt
that they were havin taste of the
yealities of military iIfc Oh a war basis
which they had La rdly anticipated.
The rain storms were quite disastrous,
too, to the finances of the Drill. Be
sides uDrooting d,e grand stand aud
causing other DANA gcs which repre-
scented actual ontla y, they caused
Oustponemenl OF dle panorama per
Torrance on two veuings, deprlvlng
the Drill Commute { of receipts from
that source, and they also cut out ii
portion of each days program, as for
instance the dress parades, at five
o'clock P. N. which would have attrac
ted many spectators. General Greeley
visited headquarts = shortly after the
first storm aud III response to some
ocular reproaches about the weather
promised that it should be good for
the rest of the week.
The General Of the Virginia Brigade
and the members of his staff expressed
themselves as much pleased with the
result of the encampment so far as
their men were concerned. They said
it had been camp of instruction to
them, many of whom needed such ex-
perience. The strictest military dis
cipline has been maintained and the
troops have been required to attend to
every camp duty with as MUCH fidelity
us though they were actually in service
in the field. One of the officers also
said that the Encampment had been of
great benefit to many Of the officers.
They we're good drill officers in their
own armories but knew little of the
duties required of them in the field.
Some of the captains have had their
men up and in line at five o'clock in
the morning, and no point has been
neglected to give them all the benefit
of instruction that camp affords.
The chief interest of the Drill now
lies in that which nobody has yet found
out, namely: how the various compa-
MES stand in the competitive drill, and
which will get the $1,000 sprize. The
announcement of the awards will be
made by the judges at three o'clock
this afternoon at the Drill grounds,
with due ceremony, aud until this for
NAL presentation no one but tile judges
will know who are the winners.
General Sheridan selected tie army
officers who are the Judges of the
Drill and he will present tile prizes to
the successful competitors.
The famous Lomax Rifles of Mobile,
it was thought, would be dangerous
rivals for first Ilonors, and indeed they
we're superb company of men and
drilled finely. But they themselves do
not expect very high place now, as
they iabored under some disadvantages.
Their captain, it is said, on account of
the illness and death of his wife has
not been able to drill his men of late,
and he accidentally omitted whole